Love Story actress Dree Hemingway wrote to the real-life figure behind her character, Daryl Hannah, before her scathing portrayal of the ’80s star aired.
Just one day before Hannah, 65, wrote a damning New York Times op-ed about her portrayal in the FX show, Hemingway, 38, revealed that she had written a “love note” to John F. Kennedy Jr.’s ex-girlfriend.
“It was really just a love note to her saying how much I admired her, how much I’ve admired her as an actress and a woman, prior to even being cast as Daryl,” Hemingway told Nylon about the letter.
Hemingway said that she did not reach out in order to meet Hannah in person, but instead to say that it was an “honor of a lifetime” to “portray” and “research” the Splash star.
“I would have loved to directly have spoken to her,” Hemingway said, but acknowledged that her “nerves” had gotten the better of her. “I also didn’t want to intrude in any way. I didn’t want to make her feel awkward if that were something that she didn’t want to do or something.”
Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. on and off for five years before he began dating Carolyn Bessette in 1994, is a recurring character throughout Love Story. The real-life actress, however, took issue with her portrayal in the Ryan Murphy-led series.
“The character ‘Daryl Hannah’ portrayed in the series is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John. The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue,” Hannah wrote in her scorched earth essay.
The actress said that many of her character’s actions and dialogues are untrue, including her frequent cocaine use, comparing Jackie Kennedy’s death to a dog’s, planting a story in the press, and pressuring JFK Jr. into a proposal.
“It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show,” Hannah wrote. “These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct—and they are false.”
Since the series began airing in February, the Blade Runner actress said she had received many “hostile and even threatening” messages from viewers airing grievances about what they believe to be factual.
Hemingway, however, emphasized that the FX series is a “dramatization” of the real-world story.
“We are not exactly portraying her or how something went down,” Hemingway said. “There’s a fiction involved in all of this. With any person that you loved and you were dating, I’m sure it’s a hard thing. So, I think that it’s nice to respect that and her.”
By the time Hannah published her takedown, she had not responded to Hemingway’s note.
“But that’s OK,” the Love Story actress said. “It was not the expectation. It was more so just like ‘I really appreciate you. I admire you as a person, a philanthropist, an actress.’ I wasn’t trying to have her communicate back.”
Hemingway predicted that Hannah would come to an understanding about the project in time. “The show’s just come out,” she said. “I’m sure there’s a lot to digest there.”
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is streaming now on Hulu with the final episode set to premiere Mar. 26.
